Gas dynamics and structure of galaxies

Between gas dynamics and structure of galaxies is a two-way relation. On one hand, gas dynamics in a galaxy is largely determined by the structure of the galaxy, and on the other hand, gas dynamics can gradually alter the galaxy structure through redistribution of mass and angular momentum within the galaxy. The first half of this relation should mostly determine gas distribution and regulate star formation in undisturbed spirals, and the second half has been suggested to cause secular evolution of spiral galaxies—a slow mode of galaxy evolution in the absence of major mergers. Our knowledge on this relation is going to be greatly deepened by the ALMA. Focusing on the galaxy evolution through gas dynamics, I briefly review what we know about the subject. Then I try to look out what the ALMA can do to answer open questions in the field. It is pointed out that the ALMA will be able to fully map all the spiral galaxies between 1 and 25 Mpc at 1″ resolution in 1000 hours.     

A new view of proto-planetary disks with ALMA

The dynamical, physical and chemical processes which lead to planet formation constitute an astrophysical domain which will strongly benefit from ALMA in terms of frequency coverage, sensitivity and angular resolution. Recent results from current mm/submm interferometers obtained on molecules and dust in proto-planetary disks are presented. The observational coupling between gas and dust is discussed and it is shown that dust disks must be analyzed with the knowledge provided by gas disks, and respectively, both from the chemical and physical points. For these purposes, the methods of analysis of mm/submm interferometric data specific to disks are summarized. Emphasis is given on recent, unexpected, findings obtained in the highest sensitivity and resolution observations obtained so far, as they provide a hint of what ALMA could discover. A comparison with the expected sensitivities for ALMA illustrates how ALMA can enhance our knowledge of the disk physics, either by providing statistics or by allowing much more detailed studies of representative objects.     

Present and Future Cometary Science with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer

Interferometric observations are essential to probe the molecular emission in the inner cometary atmospheres and study the outgassing from the nucleus. Mapping the continuum emission can provide information about the dust and/or nucleus properties. We present here a summary of the observations of the dust and gas coma of comet 17P/Holmes and nuclear observations of 8P/Tuttle, both carried out with the IRAM interferometer at Plateau de Bure (PdBI) in 2007–2008. The observations of these two comets demonstrate the ability of the PdBI in terms of cometary science. In the near future, several improvements will be made (new receivers at 0.8 mm, a new wide-band correlator) allowing more frequent and more detailed studies of comets. On the long term, NOEMA, an expansion project, may add up to six antennas to the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, and increase the baseline lengths. Such an instrument would offer a complement to ALMA to track comets of the northern hemisphere with about half the sensitivity of ALMA for continuum studies.     

Observing the Sun with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA): High-Resolution Interferometric Imaging

Observations of the Sun at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths offer a unique probe into the structure, dynamics, and heating of the chromosphere; the structure of sunspots; the formation and eruption of prominences and filaments; and energetic phenomena such as jets and flares. High-resolution observations of the Sun at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths are challenging due to the intense, extended, low-contrast, and dynamic nature of emission from the quiet Sun, and the extremely intense and variable nature of emissions associated with energetic phenomena. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) was designed with solar observations in mind. The requirements for solar observations are significantly different from observations of sidereal sources and special measures are necessary to successfully carry out this type of observations. We describe the commissioning efforts that enable the use of two frequency bands, the 3-mm band (Band 3) and the 1.25-mm band (Band 6), for continuum interferometric-imaging observations of the Sun with ALMA. Examples of high-resolution synthesized images obtained using the newly commissioned modes during the solar-commissioning campaign held in December 2015 are presented. Although only 30 of the eventual 66 ALMA antennas were used for the campaign, the solar images synthesized from the ALMA commissioning data reveal new features of the solar atmosphere that demonstrate the potential power of ALMA solar observations. The ongoing expansion of ALMA and solar-commissioning efforts will continue to enable new and unique solar observing capabilities.     

Gauge-Invariant Helicity for Force-Free Magnetic Fields in a Rectangular Box

The Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) is a large interferometer that will consist up to 64 high-precision antennas operating in the 31.3 – 950 GHz frequency range. In this frequency range, which is largely unexplored, unique observations with a broad range of scientific objectives (cosmology, cold universe, galaxies, stars and their formation, planets and so on) are expected. Among these tasks there is a unique possibility to observe the Sun and to address several outstanding issues of solar physics. First, the ALMA is briefly described and then the new ESO-ALMA European node (ARC), built at Ondřejov Observatory, is presented. In Europe, this ARC is the only one oriented to solar physics. Consequently, the requirements and limitations for ALMA solar observations, as well as some examples of possible solar-oriented ALMA projects, are shown. A procedure of the preparation and submission of proposals for ALMA observations is mentioned.     

Spectroscopic surveys of cosmic evolution

ALMA will be the premier instrument for the study of galaxy evolution in the early universe—enabling studies of the gas content, dynamics and dynamical masses, and star formation with unparalleled resolution and sensitivity. Galaxy evolution and AGN growth in the early universe are believed to be strongly driven by merging and dynamical interactions. Thus, a full exploration of the environmental influence is absolutely essential. The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) is specifically designed to probe the correlated coevolution of galaxies, star formation, active galactic nuclei (AGN) and dark matter (DM) large-scale structure (LSS) over the redshift range z>0.5 to 3. In this contribution I review the characteristics of the COSMOS survey and very exciting initial results on mapping large scale structure in galaxies and dark matter. The survey includes multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopy from X-ray to radio wavelengths covering a 2 square degree equatorial field. Given the very high sensitivity and resolution of these datasets, COSMOS will provide unprecedented samples of objects at z>3 for followup studies wit ALMA.     

Solar Prominence Modelling and Plasma Diagnostics at ALMA Wavelengths

Our aim is to test potential solar prominence plasma diagnostics as obtained with the new solar capability of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We investigate the thermal and plasma diagnostic potential of ALMA for solar prominences through the computation of brightness temperatures at ALMA wavelengths. The brightness temperature, for a chosen line of sight, is calculated using the densities of electrons, hydrogen, and helium obtained from a radiative transfer code under non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) conditions, as well as the input internal parameters of the prominence model in consideration. Two distinct sets of prominence models were used: isothermal-isobaric fine-structure threads, and large-scale structures with radially increasing temperature distributions representing the prominence-to-corona transition region. We compute brightness temperatures over the range of wavelengths in which ALMA is capable of observing (0.32?–?9.6 mm), however, we particularly focus on the bands available to solar observers in ALMA cycles 4 and 5, namely 2.6?–?3.6 mm (Band 3) and 1.1?–?1.4 mm (Band 6). We show how the computed brightness temperatures and optical thicknesses in our models vary with the plasma parameters (temperature and pressure) and the wavelength of observation. We then study how ALMA observables such as the ratio of brightness temperatures at two frequencies can be used to estimate the optical thickness and the emission measure for isothermal and non-isothermal prominences. From this study we conclude that for both sets of models, ALMA presents a strong thermal diagnostic capability, provided that the interpretation of observations is supported by the use of non-LTE simulation results.     

High-mass star forming regions: An ALMA view

The advent of ALMA is bound to improve our knowledge of OB star formation dramatically. Here, we present an overview of this topic outlining how high angular resolution and sensitivity may contribute to shed light on the structure of high-mass star forming regions and hence on the process itself of massive star formation. The impact of this new generation instrument will range from establishing the mass function of pre-stellar cores inside IR-dark clouds, to investigating the kinematics of the gas from which OB stars are built up, to assessing or ruling out the existence of circumstellar accretion disks in these objects.     

Cometary science with ALMA

This paper presents a prospect for the observations of comets with ALMA. Thanks to unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution and instantaneous uv-coverage, key measurements on a number of topics related to the chemical and physical properties of the coma and the nucleus will be obtained. These include (1) the identification of new molecular species and measurements of key isotopic ratios, (2) measurements of the composition of short-period comets coming from the trans-Neptunian scattered disc, to investigate chemical diversity within the whole comet population, (3) imaging of gas jets and their relationship with dust features, (4) the study of extended sources of gas in the coma, and (5) the study of the physical and outgassing properties of the nucleus.     

The study of young substellar objects with ALMA

We discuss the potential of ALMA for studying the formation of substellar objects. We first review briefly the various formation mechanisms proposed so far and stress the unique capability of ALMA to detect and study pre-brown dwarf cores and to confirm the core-collapse scenario to the lowest possible masses. We then discuss the properties of disks around substellar objects. We show how it will be possible to detect with ALMA most disks around objects with mass as low as few Jupiter masses, and to resolve spatially their emission in the more favorable cases.     

Detecting the most distant (z>7) objects with ALMA

Detecting and studying objects at the highest redshifts, out to the end of Cosmic Reionization at z>7, is clearly a key science goal of ALMA. ALMA will in principle be able to detect objects in this redshift range both from high-J (J>7) CO transitions and emission from ionized carbon, [CII], which is one of the main cooling lines of the ISM. ALMA will even be able to resolve this emission for individual targets, which will be one of the few ways to determine dynamical masses for systems in the Epoch of Reionization. We discuss some of the current problems regarding the detection and characterization of objects at high redshifts and how ALMA will eliminate most (but not all) of them.     

The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array: overview & status

The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international millimeter-wavelength radio telescope under construction in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. ALMA will be situated on a high-altitude site at 5000 m elevation which provides excellent atmospheric transmission over the instrument wavelength range of 0.3 to 3 mm. ALMA will be comprised of two key observing components—a main array of up to sixty-four 12-m diameter antennas arranged in a multiple configurations ranging in size from 0.15 to ∼18 km, and a set of four 12-m and twelve 7-m antennas operating in a compact array ∼50 m in diameter (known as the Atacama Compact Array, or ACA), providing both interferometric and total-power astronomical information. High-sensitivity dual-polarization 8 GHz-bandwidth spectral-line and continuum measurements between all antennas will be available from two flexible digital correlators. At the shortest planned wavelength and largest configuration, the angular resolution of ALMA will be 0.005″. The instrument will use superconducting (SIS) mixers to provide the lowest possible receiver noise contribution, and special-purpose water vapor radiometers to assist in calibration of atmospheric phase distortions. A complex optical fiber network will transmit the digitized astronomical signals from the antennas to the correlators in the Array Operations Site Technical Building, and post-correlation to the lower-altitude Operations Support Facility where the array will be controlled, and initial construction and maintenance of the instrument will occur. ALMA Regional Centers in the US, Europe, Japan and Chile will provide the scientific portals for the use of ALMA; early science observations are expected in 2010, with full operations in 2012.     

Observing the Sun with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA): Fast-Scan Single-Dish Mapping

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope has commenced science observations of the Sun starting in late 2016. Since the Sun is much larger than the field of view of individual ALMA dishes, the ALMA interferometer is unable to measure the background level of solar emission when observing the solar disk. The absolute temperature scale is a critical measurement for much of ALMA solar science, including the understanding of energy transfer through the solar atmosphere, the properties of prominences, and the study of shock heating in the chromosphere. In order to provide an absolute temperature scale, ALMA solar observing will take advantage of the remarkable fast-scanning capabilities of the ALMA 12 m dishes to make single-dish maps of the full Sun. This article reports on the results of an extensive commissioning effort to optimize the mapping procedure, and it describes the nature of the resulting data. Amplitude calibration is discussed in detail: a path that uses the two loads in the ALMA calibration system as well as sky measurements is described and applied to commissioning data. Inspection of a large number of single-dish datasets shows significant variation in the resulting temperatures, and based on the temperature distributions, we derive quiet-Sun values at disk center of 7300 K at \(\lambda = 3~\mbox{mm}\) and 5900 K at \(\lambda = 1.3~\mbox{mm}\). These values have statistical uncertainties of about 100 K, but systematic uncertainties in the temperature scale that may be significantly larger. Example images are presented from two periods with very different levels of solar activity. At a resolution of about \(25''\), the 1.3 mm wavelength images show temperatures on the disk that vary over about a 2000 K range. Active regions and plages are among the hotter features, while a large sunspot umbra shows up as a depression, and filament channels are relatively cool. Prominences above the solar limb are a common feature of the single-dish images.     

Studying the first galaxies with ALMA

We discuss observations of the first galaxies, within cosmic reionization, at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths. We present a summary of current observations of the host galaxies of the most distant QSOs (z∼6). These observations reveal the gas, dust, and star formation in the host galaxies on kpc-scales. These data imply an enriched ISM in the QSO host galaxies within 1 Gyr of the big bang, and are consistent with models of coeval supermassive black hole and spheroidal galaxy formation in major mergers at high redshift. Current instruments are limited to studying truly pathologic objects at these redshifts, meaning hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (L _FIR ∼10¹³ L _⊙). ALMA will provide the one to two orders of magnitude improvement in millimeter astronomy required to study normal star forming galaxies (i.e. Ly-α emitters) at z∼6. ALMA will reveal, at sub-kpc spatial resolution, the thermal gas and dust—the fundamental fuel for star formation—in galaxies into cosmic reionization.     

Molecular absorptions in high-z objects

Molecular absorption lines measured along the line of sight of distant quasars are important probes of the gas evolution in galaxies as a function of redshift. A review is made of the handful of molecular absorbing systems studied so far, with the present sensitivity of mm instruments. They produce information on the chemistry of the ISM at z～1, the physical state of the gas, in terms of clumpiness, density and temperature. The CMB temperature can be derived as a function of z, and also any possible variations of fundamental constants can be constrained. With the sensitivity of ALMA, many more absorbing systems can be studied, for which some predictions and perspectives are described.     

ALMA capabilities for observations of spectral line emission

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) (The Enhanced Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (known as ALMA) is an international astronomy facility. ALMA is a partnership between North America, Europe, and Japan/Taiwan, in cooperation with the Republic of Chile, and is funded in Europe by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and Spain, in North America by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), and in Japan by the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) in cooperation with the Academia Sinica in Taiwan. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Japan/Taiwan by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), and on behalf of Europe by ESO) combines large collecting area and location on a high dry site to provide it with unparalleled potential for sensitive millimeter/submillimeter spectral line observations. Its wide frequency coverage, superb receivers and flexible spectrometer will ensure that its potential is met. Since the 1999 meeting on ALMA Science (Wootten, ASP Conf. Ser. 235, 2001), the ALMA team has substantially enhanced its capability for line observations. ALMA’s sensitivity increased when Japan joined the project, bringing the 16 antennas of the Atacama Compcat Array (ACA), equivalent to eight additional 12 m telescopes. The first four receiver cartridges for the baseline ALMA (Japan’s entry has brought two additional bands to ALMA’s receiver retinue) have been accepted, with performance above the already-challenging specifications. ALMA’s flexibility has increased with the enhancement of the baseline correlator with additional channels and flexibility, and with the addition of a separate correlator for the ACA. As an example of the increased flexibility, ALMA is now capable of multi-spectral-region and multi-resolution modes. With the former, one might observe e.g. four separate transitions anywhere within a 2 GHz band with a high resolution bandwidth. With the latter, one might simultaneously observe with low spectral resolution over a wide bandwidth and with high spectral resolution over a narrow bandwidth; this mode could be useful for observations of pressure-broadened lines with narrow cores, for example. Several science examples illustrate ALMA’s potential for transforming millimeter and submillimeter astronomy.     

Physical studies of Centaurs and Trans-Neptunian Objects with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array

Once completed, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) will be the most powerful (sub)millimeter interferometer in terms of sensitivity, spatial resolution and imaging. This paper presents the capabilities of ALMA applied to the observation of Centaurs and Trans-Neptunian Objects, and their possible output in terms of physical properties. Realistic simulations were performed to explore the performances of the different frequency bands and array configurations, and several projects are detailed along with their feasibility, their limitations and their possible targets. Determination of diameters and albedos via the radiometric method appears to be possible on ∼500 objects, while sampling of the thermal lightcurve to derive the bodies’ ellipticity could be performed at least 30 bodies that display a significant optical lightcurve. On a limited number of objects, the spatial resolution allows for direct measurement of the size or even surface mapping with a resolution down to 13 milliarcsec. Finally, ALMA could separate members of multiple systems with a separation power comparable to that of the HST. The overall performance of ALMA will make it an invaluable instrument to explore the outer Solar System, complementary to space-based telescopes and spacecrafts.     

Nearby Protoclusters as Laboratories for Understanding Star Formation on Galactic Scales

Detailed studies of nearby cluster-forming molecular clouds can help us understand the physical processes by which most stars form in galaxies. I review recent advances made on this subject. Submillimeter observations of nearby protoclusters suggest that stars are generally built from finite, detached reservoirs of mass inside molecular cloud cores, and point to a cloud fragmentation origin for the IMF. Much progress in this field will come from future large submillimeter instruments such as Herschel and ALMA. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Early stages of star formation

The study of the earliest stages of star formation in molecular clouds is one of the fields that should benefit most from ALMA. Improving our understanding of these deeply embedded stages is crucial to gain insight into the origin of stellar masses and binary systems. While the use of large single-dish (sub)millimeter radiotelescopes and existing interferometers has led to good progress on the overall density structure of isolated prestellar cores and young protostars, many questions remain open concerning, e.g., their fragmentation properties and detailed kinematics. Furthermore, the classical paradigm for the formation of single low-mass stars in well-separated, magnetized prestellar cores has been challenged on the grounds that most young stars actually belong to multiple systems and/or coherent clusters. A new paradigm based on supersonic turbulence has emerged which emphasizes the role of dynamical interactions between individual (proto)stars in cluster-forming clumps. The debate is far from settled and ALMA will greatly help to discriminate between these two paradigms.     

Studies of dense cores with ALMA

Dense cores are the simplest star-forming sites that we know, but despite their simplicity, they still hold a number of mysteries that limit our understanding of how solar-type stars form. ALMA promises to revolutionize our knowledge of every stage in the life of a core, from the pre-stellar phase to the final disruption by the newly born star. This contribution presents a brief review of the evolution of dense cores and illustrates particular questions that will greatly benefit from the increase in resolution and sensitivity expected from ALMA.